Oak Ridge city schools ahead of the game on nutrition mandates

When vending machine operators begin posting nutritional information next year, there won’t be any surprises for Oak Ridge students who regularly visit the machines — they already know what they’re getting from the machines is healthy.

When vending machine operators begin posting nutritional information next year, there won’t be any surprises for Oak Ridge students who regularly visit the machines — they already know what they’re getting from the machines is healthy.

Unlike some schools, soft drinks aren’t sold from any vending machines on Oak Ridge school campuses, according to Gary Gluch, food services manager for the school system. He works for Aramark Education, which Oak Ridge schools contracts with to provide food services to the school system.

Vending machines at all the schools sell water and Robertsville Middle School recently won a grant to purchase a vending machine that sells milk. Gluch explained that under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s competitive food guidelines, no foods or drinks with “minimal nutritional value” could be sold during meal periods and that guideline was extended out to include the whole school day.

While many schools and parents are looking on ways to tackle the problem of childhood obesity, Gluch said Oak Ridge schools are very progressive in looking at ways to make sure students are eating healthier. The USDA recently gave all seven Oak Ridge schools awards naming them Healthier U.S. Challenge Schools.

While the USDA is calling for one-half of all grains served to be whole grains, in the city schools 90 percent of the grains served are whole grains. Next year it will be 100 percent, he said.

One of the biggest challenges facing the food service workers is making sure the meals — lunches and breakfasts — fall within the set minimums and maximums for such things as proteins, whole grains and calories for each age group, which is divided into kindergarten through fifth-grade, sixth through eighth and ninth through 12th.

The USDA requires that the student get 1⁄2 cup of fruits or vegetables each day. In the future there’ll be a call for a cut in the amount of sodium in the foods served to students.

“We’re all using frozen vegetables,” Gluch said, rather than canned vegetables that often have a lot of sodium. So Oak Ridge is ahead of the game again.

“We’re really encouraging smarter choices, healthier eating habits,” he said. Hanging on the walls of his office are two of the latest posters that’ll be posted in the schools to encourage the children. While one encourages each one to be a “serving-size detective,” the other asks the question, “Food labels — what are they trying to tell you?”